{"id":38307,"date":"2021-04-29T09:00:25","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T16:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=38307"},"modified":"2021-04-28T09:24:43","modified_gmt":"2021-04-28T16:24:43","slug":"skill-set-silicone-mold-and-casting-resin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/skill-set-silicone-mold-and-casting-resin\/","title":{"rendered":"Skill Set: Silicone Mold and Casting Resin"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m really having fun doing the molding and casting Skill Set. What other Skill Sets\u00a0would you like to see<\/a>\u00a0in the future? If it\u2019s something that I\u2019m not familiar with, I\u2019ll get a guest teacher.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Skill Set: Silicone Mold and Casting Resin<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Me

Me molding my keychain pendant.<\/p><\/div>\n

I hope folks who\u2019ve been participating in this series have been having fun learning a new skill. In the last three segments (1<\/a>,\u00a02<\/a>,\u00a03<\/a>), we\u2019ve learned the basics of molding and casting a 1-part mold. Above is my pour of my 1-part mold. Reader\u00a0Federico Tobon<\/strong>\u00a0of Wolf Cat Workshop posted his molding and resin casting in an\u00a0Instagram video<\/a>. He made a cool CNC-cut character face and cast that (see below). He had some trouble demolding because of the blind holes in his design. He forgot to use a demolding agent (cooking spray is common). The cast turned out great, but he lost some of the mold in removing the piece. Great job, Tobon!<\/p>\n

If you poured a mold and cast an object, please\u00a0send me a pic<\/a>\u00a0and I\u2019ll share it here.<\/p>\n

In the next sequence, we\u2019ll be building a block mold. This is a type of single-pour mold that allows for more complex shapes and undercuts. As always, refer to\u00a0Paige Russell\u2019s Instructables class<\/a>\u00a0for details. Go ahead and choose your object and build your mold box. Make sure to choose a small object so that you don\u2019t have to use a lot of the casting rubber. And, as always, ask\u00a0any questions<\/a>\u00a0you may have.<\/p>\n

\"Federico

Federico Tobon’s cast piece.<\/p><\/div>\n

Which Tape Measure is Best?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Which

Which tape measures up?<\/p><\/div>\n

I\u2019ve been waiting for\u00a0this Project Farm video<\/a>\u00a0for some time. In it, Todd tests Milwaukee, DeWalt, Stanley, Craftsman, Klein, Kobalt, Lufkin, Bauer, Komelon, Kutir, and Ming Hao 25\u2019 tape measures. The tapes were tested for standout (reach), abrasion resistance, impact, retraction speed after exposure to saw dust and sand, magnet strength, and blade lock strength. So, which brands performed best? The $30\u00a0DeWalt DWHT36225S<\/a>\u00a0followed by the $13\u00a0Craftsman CMHT37225S<\/a>. Given the results, and for $13, the Craftsman will be the next tape I buy. I do have a 25\u2019 Craftsman tape measure already, but it\u2019s probably 25 years old and doesn\u2019t have the more modern features like tape coating, extra standout, and a magnetic hook.<\/p>\n

8 Resources for Free (or Cheap) Stuff<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Cultivate

Cultivate a team of scrounge “agents” and you’ll be awash in obtainium in no time.<\/p><\/div>\n

In\u00a0this Jeremy Fielding video<\/a>, he runs through his favorite resources for acquiring free equipment, parts, supplies, and services. I love his idea of cultivating \u201cagents,\u201d family, friends, and colleagues, who know you\u2019re on the lookout for cast-off equipment and parts. As he points out, after you have a couple of these agents on the look-out, you\u2019ll soon have more free stuff than you can deal with. If you watch Jeremy\u2019s channel, you know that he\u2019s built many of the machines in his shop from scratch. Lots of the parts for those tools came from old treadmills, washing machines, printers, and the like.<\/p>\n

Shop Gloves<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Who

Who are you wearing?<\/p><\/div>\n

Do you have a brand of shop gloves that you prefer? If so, why? I usually just buy the cheapest ones on Amazon. But they tear so easily. I just bought a box of\u00a0these<\/a>\u00a0heavy duty 3 mil nitrile gloves in oh so stylish black. They\u2019re non-latex, powder-free, and food safe. They\u2019re not super cheap, but I\u2019m hoping the difference is worth it.<\/p>\n

More Storage Tech<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Cut

Cut your own flat-pack storage rack.<\/p><\/div>\n

Alex H<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0sent in these storage tech tips and generously shares his CAD file for the rack he designed:<\/em><\/p>\n

The above photo is the custom flat-pack storage rack I designed to hold standard shoebox-sized plastic containers. I\u2019d previously kept them stacked 4-high, but getting at the bottom one was always a chore, and heavy bins on the top threatened to crush the ones on the bottom. Now, each has its own slot and is easy to access. The dimensions of the shoebox containers differs slightly by manufacturer, so if you make something like this, verify the dimensions of the style you\u2019re using, and buy enough to fill the rack in one go.<\/p>\n

I designed the rack to be cut out of \u00bc in plywood on a CNC or laser machine,\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0(free registration required).<\/p>\n

My second tip goes with the link above. My favorite 3D CAD software is a package called\u00a0Onshape<\/a>. It\u2019s industrial-strength CAD that runs completely in a browser, meaning no install, updates, or machine requirements, and it runs seamlessly across my PC, Mac, and Linux boxes. The company offers a free maker\/hobbyist license, only restricted by all created documents being public.<\/p>\n

Maker’s Muse<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Guerilla

Guerilla public improvement. Dog not included.<\/p><\/div>\n

I\u2019ve always had a huge attraction to what Laura Kampf has dubbed \u201cguerilla making.\u201d That\u2019s where you find something in the public space that\u2019s broken and fix it. In\u00a0this video<\/a>, Laura finds a broken 3-seat bench along the Rhine river and decides to replace the two missing seats on it. She uses recycled pallet wood.\u00a0I love the idea of people going around and quietly repairing and improving the commons around them.<\/p>\n

Shop Talk<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reader\u00a0<\/em>Bob T\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>sent in this tip in response to\u00a0<\/em>the item<\/em><\/a>\u00a0about scoring and snapping small-diameter tubing with a razor knife and a vise:<\/em><\/p>\n

Just a quick comment on the \u201crazor blade for tubing\u201d tip. Depending on the wall thickness and malleability of the tubing, it\u2019s sometimes tricky to get the scoring just right and the tubing doesn\u2019t snap cleanly. In that case, insert the butt end of a drill bit that just fits into the tubing to the appropriate depth, and snap off with that as support.<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gareth’s Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales – Issue #88<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13684,"featured_media":38308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[2371],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38307"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13684"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38307"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38315,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38307\/revisions\/38315"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}